TMNT: Our Lost Brother
by Leofan221
Summary: One Foot Tech Ninja...one grenade throw...now we are no longer a complete family. This was supposed to be the night that i take my place on the team as an official Kunoichi. Guess things like this happen to anyone at anytime.


**THIS WILL BE A VERY SAD ONE-SHOT. SORRY! :(**

**~LEOFAN221 **

Testing-day Gone Wrong

~12:00am~

I gasp raggedly for breath as I adjust Leo's body on my back, and tell him that we're almost there, just hang on. I pray that I reach home in time, that Don will know what to do about the major burns that cover his entire body, but I'm getting weaker by the moment. I barely am able to place one foot in front of the other. I turn the second to last corner, and collapse onto the rough concrete, unable to breath or move any more. I feel myself slipping into the dark, and I fight to stay awake, I search for the energy to lift my precious burden once more and make it home. But it was not to be. I fall completely into the shadows, and sleep.

~10:00pm~

"Don't be nervous, Ami. You'll do fine, though I've never known Splinter to choose solo patrol for the night as a final test."

"I think I'm gonna be seriously sick. So you've never done this before? That helps my nerves settle down. Thanks a lot, Leo."I said as I prepare for my solo night of patrol, with Leo's supervision. He would only intervene under the most extreme provocation, like my imminent capture or death. Neither was preferable, but both were possible. It was something we all faced, every night. So why was I this nervous? I knew all my katas, all the scenarios, everything that could possibly go wrong. I started on the normal patrol path, but then decided to take a detour and try another way. I was on high alert, and yet relatively calm. I hardly hear Leo's presence at all. I thought of the looks on everyone's faces when I came back, hardly a scratch, and triumphant. I bet they're preparing a party, just for my completion of this test. The Lair would be covered in streamers and balloons that we had found in the junkyard, or asked April to get for us when we came back. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of breaking glass, down on the street. I ran over to the edge of the roof and looked down. Four thugs were terrorizing a jewelry store owner while emptying the showcases into a duffel bag. I took a deep breath, drew my Ninjaken, and climbed down the fire escape, ninja style.

~11:00pm~

The perimeter alarm blared in the background as I fought off another Foot soldier. This robbery had been of a laboratory, and there were a lot more than four guys that I had to deal with this time. There were, like, twenty at least. And these guys know what they're doing. I sensed too late the grenade being activated and thrown at my defenseless back. I turned, frozen at the sight of my possible doom. Just in time, a blur of blue and green in front of me as the grenade detonated, blasting us both backwards into the wall.

~12:30am~

"Guys, I'm really getting worried. They should've been back by now."

"Uh, Mikey? We never get back until at least this time, so let's give them five more min-"

"NO! They're in trouble, Don. I just know it! If you guys won't come with me, I'll go find them myself!"With that, Mikey was gone. He stormed out of the Lair, heedless of our advice to stay hidden. The door slammed shut behind him as his bandana tails were hidden from view. He had hardly been gone a minute when the door opens again, this time to our brother's sobs and pants. He weakly calls out for us and we drop what we were doing and go into a dead sprint. We are at the door in, like, two seconds. There is Mikey, lying on the floor, crying and gasping for breath, beside the limp bodies of our leader and sister. They were both badly hurt and burned. We rush them into my lab. The situation is hopeless. I bandage them as best I can, but it doesn't seem to help. They must have been there for a little while, before Mikey left to go look for them. The heart monitors are barely detecting a pulse, Leo's in particular. I don't know if he's gonna make it, but I don't have the heart to tell the others about my patient's conditions. I sink into my armchair and sob into my hands, helpless to do anything but watch my sibling's chests slowly, painfully, rise and fall.

~10:45pm~

I had wrapped the store jewelry robbery with a whole surprising ease. _This might not be as hard as I thought. _I dared to think, and continued on my way, looking for anything out of the ordinary. I saw a van that obviously was Foot, through and through. I ran after it, not losing it once as it twisted and turned down multiple streets until it came to a stop in front of an laboratory. Curious, I followed, and got myself into the fight of my life. There were at least twenty of them in there. I blocked the exit and started knocking Ninjas out left and right. A few minutes later, though, my arms started getting tired and sore, as well as my body. I kept it up because I was going to pass this test, even if it meant Leo had to intervene a little here. I had them on the run soon enough. What I couldn't see was the Foot Tech Ninja that crept up behind me, grenade in hand. He activated it, and threw it toward my back as he retreated. I turn at the sound of a scuffle against the stone, and see the mini bomb hurdling toward me. All I see is a green and blue blur … all I hear is Leo's desperate yelling of my name as he blocks the grenade's path with his body. I let out a scream of my own as I witness the sacrifice that my brother is making. The detonation is deafening and the light is blinding as I am thrown back against the wall, cushioning my brother a little with my thin frame as I connect. The impact is breathtaking. Literally, it took my breath out of my lungs. I struggle to breath as the darkness claims me as it's prey, as if it had been waiting for this moment to strike out at me.

~Leo's POV~

I am very proud of my sister. She is taking on a full night's patrol as a final test. If she can pull it off, she will earn the title of Kunoichi. There is not a shadow of doubt in my mind that at the end of the night, she will have earned the name of Kunoichi. She took down a jewelry store robbery without even breaking a sweat, and continues to patrol when she notices a Foot van speeding down the streets. She follows without hesitation, and tracks them to a laboratory. She fights valiantly, but I can tell that the fight is taking it's toll. She doesn't even notice the Foot Tech ninja retreating after a grenade throw at her back, and even if I yell right now, there's no time for her to dodge it. I do the only thing possible in that situation: I yell her name and jump in front of the blast, saving my sister from incineration with my own body. I see white light, and am deafened by a explosion. Then the world goes black.

~Asami's POV~

I wake a few moments later, having fought for my consciousness every step of the way. I somehow get Leo onto my back, and stand. _Good thing home isn't too far away. _I think, trying to stay positive, _this guy is heavier than he looks. Please, please, please let me get home in time for Don to work his magic on Leo and I, make us heal with those bandages and ointments of his. _I pray silently and start to sob. This is the most painful thing I have ever done in my entire life, but I shoulder the burden willingly, knowing that I'm the only one that can help Leo now. At least until I get home, then Don will take it from there. Getting down into the sewers was a task and a half. I opened the manhole cover, placing Leo's body so that I can gently pull him down when I enter the sewers. I pulled Leo down and kept on walking. I was nearing the second to last turn when it starts. The dizziness, the black spots in my vision, and the ringing in my ears. I start to lose consciousness, and I barely make around the corner before I collapse. I didn't have time to lament my failure, as everything went black.

~1:00am, in Don's lab~

Groaning, and trying to keep the pained yelps inside, I sit up. When that proves too painful, I lie back down, and listen to the two sets of steady, if not slow, beats of me and Leo's hearts. I slowly open my eyes, and notice that we're in Don's lab, a heart monitor beeping by each of our cots. One awful thing I notice, though: Leo's beat is noticeably slower, and softer…Wait a minute…how did I get here? I don't remember coming into the Lair. Last thing I remember is collapsing in the sewers at the second to last turn. I try to stand up, but something in my wrist pulls taunt. I know what it is: an IV tube attached to a bag. I sigh and smile: some things just don't change about Don. I switch to the other side of the bed so I can lean on the pole that the bag is on. I needed the extra support. My legs felt as if they were made of jelly and my head as if it were a cloud. I didn't care about any of that, though. All I wanted was to get to Leo's bed, and make sure he was alright. Every step, even the baby ones, were a challenge, but I wasn't about to give in and stop. I finally make it to his bed, and sit balanced on the edge. I gently grab his hand and stroke it softly. Then it starts. The single note of the heart monitor that I hated listening to starts. I begin to panic. My brother's heart was not beating! I desperately scream and yell Don's name, pounding on Leo's chest, all the time keeping my eyes locked on the monitor screen. I beg it to pick something up, to signal that my efforts have not been on vain. Don arrives and gently but firmly removes me from the bed and takes over the resuscitation efforts. Loving hands hold me securely. I cry into the shoulder of the arm that holds me back. I look up to see Splinter's sad face looking down at me. I start sobbing again, and it takes five or so minutes for me to finally look up again. Don is still trying to save Leo's life. Again, some things just won't change about the purple clad genius. I was numb all over and I didn't feel the prick of a syringe and the hands that carefully picked me up and put me back on the cot I had been on before. All I knew was that my eyes betrayed me and closed against my will. _Oh, no you didn't, Donnie. You did not just sedate me, you…sneaky…little…devil. _My mind joined my eyes in their deception and sent signals of sleepiness through out my body. My body succumbs to the messages telling it to sleep and I am helpless to stop it.

~2:00am~

I slowly come to, breathing slowly as I slit open my eyes. I was in my room, away from the Lab and Leo. Leo…the last I saw of you you were being resuscitated by Donatello as the lonely, solitary note of the heart monitor blared throughout the room, filling it's occupants with dread. I stand up, ignoring the pain and dizziness that are the result of my actions. I run and run to the Lab, wanting, no **needing **to know how he's doing. I need to know that he's gonna pull through, that he's still alive. I have to stop at the door, gasping for breath and extremely dizzy. My heartbeat is pounding in my ears, and my body feels like it's made of jelly, but I prop myself up in the doorway and look inside. I am frozen by what I see inside. All of my family are gathered at Leo's cot, and I don't think that it's a happy gathering. I force myself to walk over to join my family. I wish I hadn't, but I know I would do it a thousand times over. There was Leo, lying peacefully, his beloved Katanas crossed over his chest, the handles in his still hands. His eyes were closed, and I knew that they would never open again. We would never get to train with Leo there to encourage us, point out ways that we can improve the moves we were working on. When we watch a movie, the couch would be more open, we wouldn't have Leo to give his honest opinion of the lame acting, the poor scripting, or just everything in general. The table would forever have an empty seat, the Dojo forever lacking a trainee. It hit my like a ton of bricks. I collapsed onto my knees, sobs racking my frame as I mourned my lost hero. I fully admit it; I loved and admired him. He was such a good example of everything a leader should be: compassionate, kind, but willing to reprimand and discipline when necessary. He could be a tough guy to impress when training, but he was always wanting to relax, chill out and let his crazy side run wild and free. Although he sometimes took his failings way too seriously, he always came back, no matter what. We all loved the way he was the overprotective big brother to us. He would lay down his life for each of us, in a heart beat, and without hesitation. I only wish I had been able to return the favor. There were things I wanted to say to him, and I didn't care who heard as I let the words flow out of my mouth like a river. "Leo, you didn't have to do that: I could have taken that hit, knowing that you would have been safe. Why did you do it? Why didn't you just tackle me out if the way? That way, we both could returned home alive. Don would have patched up our wounds, and we both would have been fine. I hope you're in a better place now, away from the pain and cruelty of this world. I'm sorry I failed you. I couldn't do a thing about what happened last night, and as a result, you are laying there instead of me. I should be on that cot, not you. I really do mean that. I wish it had been me that got hit, not you. I'm sorry, so sorry, Leonardo."When I was done, everyone's eyes were on me, stunned expressions on everyone's faces. After about a minute Mikey spoke up. "Whoa. Just whoa, Ami."

"I don't mean this in a rude way, but what happened last night? Please, we wanna know, Asami."Don said, his gentle hand on my shoulder. I took a deep breath. They deserved to know what happened, why their brother is dead on his cot. "OK. So, I had only been patrolling for, like, a minute when I saw a Jewelry store robbery in progress. I put a stop to that with ease. I then saw a Foot van speeding down First and Bleaker. I followed, curious. There were at least twenty of them, and they were stripping the place clean. I jumped in and got surrounded and up to my neck in Foot ninjas. I fought off at least ten, maybe fifteen before I started slowing down. Five ninjas later, I heard a scuffling noise against the floor and saw a activated grenade headed right for me. I froze up, and just before it detonated, I saw green and blue. I was deafened, and blinded as me and Leo were blasted across the room. I cushioned Leo a little, and I got him onto my back and started heading for home. I got as far as the second to last turn before I could go no farther. That's all I remember from before I woke up the first time, in the Lab."I said, and started sobbing again. We all ended up in a family hug, mourning our lost leader, and role model. He would never be a part of our lives again, but we had to pick up the shattered pieces of our lives, and live on, for Leo, and the life had led. We buried him in the edge of the woods outside casey's farmhouse. If you were there in the early morning and saw us from a distance, you would think we were a group of friends enjoying the beautiful sunrise. But if you crept forward, you would see that we were racked with tears and sobs as we laid our dear beloved sibling and, for Splinter, child. We turned away, one by one and piled into the Battle Shell. _April and Casey had been heartbroken at the news. Case had punched a pretty big hole in the wall, angry at the scum who had thrown the grenade that had caused unimaginable pain and suffering. April had simply cried into Don's shoulder and it took five minutes for her and Casey to settle down. Don bandaged Case's bloody and bruised hand with rags from the kitchen_. I was the last to leave the grave. I tied his bright blue mask to the simple stone cross that symbolized our brother's final resting place. "Leo, I am not ashamed to tell you that I love you. I loved you from the first day. Training with you had been the highlight of my day, and patrol was just the icing on the cake for me. I only wish I had told you when you could still hear me. I'm so sorry that I froze up like that. It was a stupid rookie's error, not one that someone makes during their final test and the price of that failure had been way too high. It cost you your life, and I had been powerless to stop you. I hope you can forgive me some day."I tell him as I place a bouquet of flowers at the base of his grave stone. I carve a few words onto his stone with a shuriken: Leonardo, beloved son, brother, and leader who never ceased to follow his dreams to the very end. It wasn't much, but I felt a little better as I turned and took a seat in Battle Shell. Tears flowed down everyone's cheeks as the farmhouse, and the stone cross behind it, faded from view.


End file.
